The regular meeting of the City of Mishawaka Redevelopment Commission was called to order at 6:30 p.m., Monday, February 25, 2013, in Room 205, City Hall, 600 East Third Street, Mishawaka, Indiana. Commissioners O’Dell, Buraczewski, Ermeti, Pingel, and Stillson were present. Commissioner Eberhart was absent. In addition to members of the public, the following were also in attendance: David Thomas, Community Development Director; John Gourley, Legal Counsel; and Kari Myers, Administrative Planner.

Commissioner Pingel moved to approve the minutes of January 28, 2013, meeting as circulated. Commissioner Ermeti seconded; motion carried.

Buy/Sell Agreements:
208/210 W. Third Street
Mr. Thomas said this is the former Notre Dame Federal Credit Union that was discussed last month and presented the Buy/Sell Agreement for the Commissioner’s consideration. Commissioner Ermeti moved to approve the Buy/Sell Agreement with Notre Dame Federal Credit Union. Commissioner Pingel seconded; motion carried.

523 N. Cedar Street
Mr. Thomas said the City is purchasing this property for $86,750.00 and has a tentative closing date of February 28. It’s the commercial property across the street from Mishawaka Hardware on Cedar Street. It’s currently vacant and has been blighted over the years.

Mr. Thomas said with the Hospice project under construction and the City vacating the Central Services property behind the hardware store, it was thought it would be a good purchase and use for First Time Homebuyer homes down the road. Commissioner Pingel moved to approve the Buy/Sell Agreement for 523 N. Cedar Street. Commissioner Buraczewski seconded; motion carried.

Release of Mortgage
Mr. Thomas said all three homeowners have signed the Resale Restrictions as discussed last month. He said the deal was if they signed the document, we would release the 2nd Mortgage. Mr. Gourley has prepared the Release of Mortgage for 311 Cleveland, 510 W. 10th Street, and 407 W. 6th Street, and it’s strictly a release; not a “Paid in Full” release.

Habitat for Humanity Update
Mr. Thomas said he received a letter from Habitat for Humanity. They are not changing their Memorandum of Understanding; only pushing the timeline back. He said in 2012, they found they had property they had to build on immediately. They will still build the same amount of homes, just not in 2013.

Mr. Thomas presented a new Memorandum of Understanding from Habitat for Humanity for what previously was identified as 513 S. Taylor Street. The house has been flipped on the lot and they now want the address to be changed to 702 W. 7th Street and this new MOU documents that change.

First Time Homebuyer Update
Four homes are currently under construction and Mr. Thomas said we’ll keep building homes as they can. He said they are working to get 50% spent of NSP3 funds and have 4 homes to be building by March, 2014.

Anything Else Brought Before the Commission
Mr. Thomas said Summer of Service planning is underway and he’s going to meet with Paul Baldwin next week.

Mr. Thomas said his department has an NSP monitoring visit this week and a HUD audit sometime before August.

Mr. Thomas said he had a brief discussion with Mayor Wood and Jim Williams from Habitat for Humanity regarding shifting Habitat control away from Redevelopment Development and just subsidizing the builds. This is just a discussion and Mr. Thomas said he wasn’t asking for the Commission’s approval tonight.

Commissioner Stillson asked if Habitat had the same guidelines as we do. Mr. Thomas said they can go to very low income recipients.

Commissioner Stillson asked if they would be a “pass-thru” or have total control. Mr. Thomas said they would be a pass-thru. However, it may impact our approved first time home builders.

Commissioner Stillson asked if there would be a downside and what control would we have. Mr. Thomas said he doesn’t see a downside. It might be worth our money to sit down with Greg Kil and have them come up with some drawings for new designs.

The Commissioners asked if we would need to compensate Habitat for their administrative fees for handling the program. Mr. Thomas said he didn’t think so. It’s an incentive for them to perpetuate their mission.

Next Meeting
An Executive Session is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, at 6:30 p.m.

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held Monday, March 25, 2013, at 6:30 p.m.

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